Ebola Can Be Contained With Combination Of Strategies

“The Ebola epidemic raging through West Africa has highlighted not only the terrible state of the region’s public health infrastructure but also the low priority given worldwide to developing treatments for tropical diseases. …[H]ealth authorities are only now beginning to evaluate the pipeline of medicines that might be available to treat or prevent infection. The most striking aspect of this pipeline is how many experimental candidates there are. … But the immediate issue is who should have access to the extremely limited supplies of experimental medicines likely to be available within the next few weeks. … While the present epidemic is the largest and most complex on record — and, lest we forget, by far the most devastating in its effect on affected communities — it too can be beaten through a combination of infection control, contact tracing, and local solidarity. Yes, a supply of safe and effective medicines would help enormously, and with sufficient political will we should have one in time for the next Ebola epidemic, but it is not the key to victory” (8/13).